Hyundai plans luxury car

Hyundai Motor Co. of South Korea said Monday that it planned to launch a car aimed at the U.S. premium segment next year.

Hyundai, which with affiliate Kia Motors Corp. is the world’s No. 6 automaker by vehicles sold, is targeting the global luxury car market in a bid to upgrade its image and convince buyers that it can make more than just economical mass-market cars.

“We will launch the BH in the first half of 2008 in South Korea and will begin to sell the premium sedan in the United States, the major export market for the model, in late 2008,” Hyundai spokesman Jake Jang said, using the luxury model’s code name.

Another company representative said Hyundai aimed to sell about 20,000 units of the V-8-powered BH in the U.S. annually. The automaker, which maintains its American headquarters in Fountain Valley, sold 455,520 vehicles in the U.S. in 2006.